As they say in jazz, “You’ve got to tell a story,” and no one a) told or b) lived better ones than Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Here are a pair of recent releases of the Tennesse Studs, long and mean; one’s a collection of vintage unreleased material, and the other an expanded reissue.
Back in the 80s, Johnny Cash was in the midst of a spiritual, musical and personal resurgence. This album with the team of Peter Drake-Weldon Myrick/g, Marty Stuart/mand, Hargus Robbins-Bobby Wood/p, Terry McMillan/harp, John Williams-Henry Strzelecki/b and Kenny Malone/dr is filled with all that made Cash one of the greatest American storytellers. June Carter Cash and Waylon Jennings also make guest appearances, with the latter in ribald form on “I’m Movin’ On” while the Mrs is a homespun delight on “Baby Ride Easy.” As for the Man in Black, he’s an absolute hoot on “If I Told You Who It Was” and “I Drove Her Out Of My Mind” and grabs you by the throat on a riveting “She Used to Love Me A Lot.” Life with dirt under the fingernails. Real Americana.
Elvis Presley was still in top form when he went on tour in 1974. This 2 cd set has a stereo recording of him at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, and then a mono (“with heavy reverb as Elvis preferred”) disc of a concert at the Coliseum in Richmond. An August ’74 rehearsal of a handful of songs such as “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” and “Softly As I Leave You” completes the sale.
First thing you notice here is that Elvis’ voice is in top form; he can still belt out the blues and rockers such as “Trying to Get to You” and “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” He also knows how to work a crowd, a pleases every genre of fan, from the patriotic (“An American Trilogy”) to the religious (“How Great Thou Art), and while these songs get a bit overblown in the production at times so that they sound like a Vegas Extravaganza, that’s what Elvis was all about anyway. The two concerts are essentially the same, with the Richmond one having a bit more of a pop. It’s impressive how Presley feels comfortable and at home in every musical genre on stage. He was a true performer, and you can feel it here.
Legacy Recordings